and so it begins.

[gromit]

today , we brought home our first bus! (does the last 45 miles on a wrecker count as driving it home? )

the begining: craigslist, 1973 bus, $1200.00. email, email, email, phone call. blah, blah, blah. i got one of these.......
the bus: carpenter/gmc v6 auotmatic pusher, pre gutted, sorta started, back burnered and growing mold. "runs and drives".
the deal: higher end deer rifles with add ons, even trade . (i bought it {cheap!} secondhand and never fired it once in three years )
the reality: "runs" AND "drives" , blew a seal in the air brake canister and it locked down in the center lane of rush hour traffic.
the towbill: $385.00 (ouch!)


so..... now i have this bus sitting in the road in front of my house. i guess tomorow i will go outside and make a clean spot in the driveway for it. (where do i put my other junk?) and we begin the building of our "retirement home". im going to try to keep a photo journal of the progress and share it with you, this will probably mean a few shots every now and then, and likely me venting about stupid buses .


found and joined the site the day i got my bus. great ideas here. thanks. great to see so many people willing to share their experience and knowledge. still reading through the forums, with many to go.

will try to post a "before" pic directly so you all cans laugh "with" me.

so wish me luck! (and any info on this bus would be a real help. i know #*%@ about buses.)

till we meet again, may we all have enough.

[gromit]

thanks!

typo though, just one rifle, not rifles. (im a welder, not a typist).

a friend of mine was having post-marital complications and priced it to go. held on to it for while for him but he said just let it go. but the pawn shops are overflowing with them right now, so .....

now if i could just find that stupid camera.

[timbuk]

its a v6? is it the old 305 v6? had a few of those in the 60 to 66 pickups they have lots of torque but dont rev up and like gas neet old motors though were in alot of big trucks.as for the tow bill there have been bigger ones than that(sporty rick,lapeer to name a couple) my bus came home on a wrecker too! you will love it though,lots of places to weld too! welcome!

[Elliot Naess]

To post photos, go to photobucket.com and open an account. It's free -- you just have to put up with some ads on the screen. It's also easy enough that even I was able to do it. Size the picture to around 500 pixels wide, and upload it. Below the picture will be four lines of "addresses". Highlight and copy the bottom one. Paste that into the forum post. Use the preview to make sure it looks right before hitting "post".

Oh... Welcome aboard!

If all the brake chambers look as old as the one that failed, I would replace all four. The flexible hoses too.

[gromit]

Originally Posted by timbuk

its a v6? is it the old 305 v6? had a few of those in the 60 to 66 pickups they have lots of torque but dont rev up and like gas neet old motors though were in alot of big trucks.as for the tow bill there have been bigger ones than that(sporty rick,lapeer to name a couple) my bus came home on a wrecker too! you will love it though,lots of places to weld too! welcome!

yup, 305 v6. wrecker driver said it was the best option for a gas bus engine. seemed impressed with it. we had one in an old 60 someodd dumptruck we worked for a while. tough as a $2.00 steak.
im thinking about doing metal tubing and diamond plate interior for an "industrial" look and feel.


and thanks!

[gromit]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

To post photos, go to photobucket.com and open an account. It's free -- you just have to put up with some ads on the screen. It's also easy enough that even I was able to do it. Size the picture to around 500 pixels wide, and upload it. Below the picture will be four lines of "addresses". Highlight and copy the bottom one. Paste that into the forum post. Use the preview to make sure it looks right before hitting "post".

Oh... Welcome aboard!

If all the brake chambers look as old as the one that failed, I would replace all four. The flexible hoses too.

thanks for the info. plan on taking pics today and maybe having the spousal unit load them as she is the smart one.

im thinking a complete brake rebuild(oh boy!)

and thanks! glad to be here.

[paul iossi]

welcome aboard

tough as a 2$ steak doesn't do that engine justice, it's tougher than a good workboot . IIRC the gm V6 was built in several sizes with the 305 being the small engine also 350 and 427 versions, and a v12 with 2 blocks bolted end to end and used in semis.

I had the privelege of abusing one in a 65 gmc 3/4 ton p/up that hd to be put down at 350,000 miles due to rust, the engine had i waterpump failure and regular oil&filter changes and an anual tune-up, the 2 clutches were due to driver error.

[timbuk]

there is a great website for these motors 60-66gmc.com. lots of real good info here from Jolly and the gang

[gromit]

thanks for the link.



tried this once but i dont think it worked.

[gromit]

lets try another'n





keeps cropping the left side of the pic. oh well.


now...... a name........ maybe....... artibus journey......

[Elliot Naess]

I see the whole bus in both pictures, if that fact helps you anything. I just have to scroll sideways a bit to get it all on the screen. I alwasy resize my pictures to around 500 pixels. That way they will always fit on anybody's screen, without scrolling.

[timbuk]

oh yea baby thats a bus all right!where is the moter? i like it ive never seen one like that!(except for the paint job mine looked close to that) oh yea we got you now! must have been a riot driving it until the brakes locked up timbuk

[gromit]

just have to remind myself that it wont happen overnight.(sigh)

[timbuk]

took me almost a summer of eves to strip 6 layers of paint of my bus and etch prime it weld up the rust and clovaprime it when your bus looks presentable it becomes a joy to work onhead down-ass up!